VIDEO: Why understanding young Singaporeans’ diets should be a public health and research priority

Academics are striving to increase the volume of quality data about the dietary patterns of young Singaporeans, in order to boost the nutritional health of future generations.

With the start projections warning that 50% of the city state’s population could be affected by type 2 diabetes by 2050, there is a growing awareness that the dietary habits of youngsters need to be better understood.

That’s why in our latest Nutrition Asia video series we’ve been speaking to Dr Iain Brownlee, from Singapore’s Newcastle University.

Brownlee and his colleagues have been undertaking research to begin to gauge the dietary quality of young people, and in the video he shares some of the initial findings.

Whole grains

He also discusses the challenges in terms of building, maintaining and adding to data sources to ensure that information is kept up-to-date.

Brownlee goes on to focus on fruit, vegetable and whole grain consumption, before assessing the merits of supplementation and fortification to increase nutritional status.

Finally, he discusses the technological advances that are needed to help researchers better develop systems for measuting dietary quality.

Take a look at the video for more.